San Francisco’s legendary Mission Crit popped off over the weekend with 6 days packed full of track bike racing & mayhem. The event tee’d off on Wednesday at Hellyer Velodrome, then moved back up to The City on Thursday with an alleycat + registration. Things then heated up on Friday night with a short circuit race held at an indoor go-kart track. This event brought to life the term “rubbing is racing” as riders were sent over the knee high barricades more than a handful of times (Video evidence HERE).
All of which brought us to Saturday’s main event, the Mission Criterium. Riders from around the globe came to partake in what has become the largest fixed gear race on the planet. With that being said, I’d like to take a moment and give huge shoutout to James Grady, the countless volunteers and everyone who helped to bring the fixed gear community together for this incredibly memorable moment. Things wouldn’t be the same without all of your continuous efforts. (More info on Mission Crit + the Fixed Gear Triple Crown can be found HERE)
After all was said and done there wasn’t a single person without a smile on their face. The course was cleared and the streets that were shutdown for the race were graciously given back to the city until we could do it all over again next year. If racers weren’t tired yet they could look forward to the Tracklocross race on Sunday followed by the “Giro di San Francisco” on Monday. If you raced all 6 days or even showed up to all 6 events, then go ahead and give yourself a massive pat on the back. It’s probably a good time to take it easy as we hopefully exit out of this mind numbing heat wave here in California. 🥵 🏁
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Everyone look out for one another. We could all be a little more kind. A little more patient. A little more understanding. The world is watching and it’s up to us to decide how we heal from here. LA is still under lockdown and the National Guard is set to arrive in the next two minutes (Midnight May 31st). What happened in Minneapolis to George Floyd is unforgivable and it’s a tragedy that we need to address. There’s good in all of us and I hope we can all see that in each other. Let’s protect one another, our communities, our families and look out for those who can’t. We’re stronger together.
FIXIE GOONS Ride Outs are always a good time. If you’ve never been to one, I suggest you mark your calendar and come out. They happen at the end of every month here in Los Angeles. Bloc Boi Fame leads the pack and wrangles together the crew. Which usually turns out to be a couple hundred people. All of which are more than decent at keeping that front wheel up.
Terms like “Don’t panic” & “Keep that wheel up” are often hollered throughout the pack.
Follow @BLOCBOIFAME for more info on the next get together.
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San Francisco is best known for one thing, hills. Steep ones. The kind of hills that make you go “please tell me we’re not walking up that”. The kind of hills that give you a nose bleed by the time you get to the top. Those hills.
For the 3rd year in a row we celebrated the Red Bull Bay Climb hosted by Mission Crit & and yours truly, James Grady. Set with an amazing backdrop, this 3 block course runs grades of up to 21% degrees. Enough to make even the spectators tired. @SLAMDUNKERNIE & I were on the scene with our camera in hand ready to capture all the action.
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Slum and I were at the Bombtrack Groundwork event last week and there was a mass of new bikes, 32 total. One of those stood out from the rest and it wasn’t even designed for myself, or any other adult, to ride. The Bombtrack Beyond: Junior was created so kids didn’t have to stay home while the parental units were out getting rad.
To me this seems like a logical product for a bike manufacturer to create. Honestly, who’s Facebook feed isn’t filled with baby photos and announcements? We’re all getting older and starting families, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop going on adventures and Bombtrack realized that.
The Northern Sierras of California are a quite a special place and even more so… if you mix in gravel bikes. I’ve known about the Lost and Found race for awhile but hadn’t felt 100% ready to tackle the 100 mile gravel grinder until this year and man, was it totally worth it.
The race kicks off in a mass start for everyone in the 102 mile format (there’s also a 67 and a 35 mile format). This mass of cyclists is lead at the very front by highway patrol eventually leading us to our first gravel road. We’d spend the next 8 1/2+ hours peddling through what seemed like every type of gravel mountain terrain imaginable. It had been raining heavy yet sporadic in the Sierras leading up to the race, providing ample mud pits with even snow still present on the course in numerous areas.
Well I made it to the mountain, but didn’t end up riding much of the actual race or dirt sections of this on / off road alleycat. Shout out to everyone who towed me up the hill, LA TRACKLOCROSS for throwing the event and Golden Saddle Cyclery for letting us loiter. There’s another Tracklocross race happening this Saturday and this time it’s going to be on a closed course. More details HERE, check out screen shots from this video below and we’ll see you at the next race.
Happy Cinco De Mayo Y’all. MASH SF always throws the best events, and on 5.5.19 we all got together in the park to celebrate the Anniversary of the shop on Sanchez st. With a ramp, a race, a bunch of parts for sale and plenty of food to go around we all had a blast getting gassed in the grass. Which looked a lot more green in person. I kinda got a thing against green grass and made it brown instead. (Concrete is king) Keep your eyes peeled for the video that we’ll drop on Monday and until then check out more photos below. CLICK HERE >>